Bound buttonhole guide



April 21, 1970 W. L. HERRMANN BOUND BUTTONHOLEiGUIDE Filed Feb. 3, 1969HPV?.

ATTORNEYS 3,507,235 BOUND BU'ITONHOLE GUIDE William L. Herrmann, 4744Lakeshore Road, Port Huron, Mich. 48060 Filed Feb. 3, 1969, Ser. No.795,956 Int. Cl. Db 35/00 U.S. Cl. 112 136 8 Claims ABSTRACT 0F THEDISCLOSURE A buttonhole guide for making bound buttonholes with anordinary sewing machine and which comprises a substantially rectangularbody member having an elongated substantially rectangular slot centrallylocated therein for positioning on a piece of fabric in which abuttonhole is to be formed, a welt forming strip adapted to be mountedover the body member and to retain a patch of fabric on the body memberover said slot for forming a welt, and two .side members hingedlymounted on the body member for folding the last mentioned piece offabric over the Welt forming strip to hold the piece of fabric inposition after the welt forming strip is removed while it is sewed tothe material in which the buttonhole is to be formed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to devices formaking bound buttonholes, and more particularly, to a buttonhole guideof this character for use with an ordinary sewing machine.

Heretofore, devices have been provided for making bound buttonholes, asfor example, the device shown in my prior United States Patent No.3,331,342. The device shown in my prior issued patent employs two stripsof fabric for nishing a buttonhole. The buttonhole guide of the presentinvention is advantageous in that it uses only one patch of materialwhich is a larger piece of material than that used in the prior artdevices which use two small strips of material, whereby the larger pieceof material can be pulled over and into the buttonhole on the reverseside so as to afford greater bulk and eXtra padding with a smoothereffect to the finished buttonhole than heretofore possible.

A further advantage of the buttonhole guide of the present invention isthat the buttonhole formed with the guide is less bulky, and after abuttonhole is made it is merely necessary to press it out, Iwithout anyfurther particular steps such as basting the buttonhole.

Another advantage of the buttonhole guide of the present invention isthat it permits the use of a single patch of material which may have abias, pattern or print, whereby the bias, pattern or print portionblends in with the rest of the material in which the buttonholes areformed.

In view of the foregoing, it is an important object of the presentinvention to provide an improved bound buttonhole guide which is simplein construction, economical to manufacture, and easily manipulated.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improvedbound buttonhole guide which is adapted to employ a single piece ofmaterial for forming the buttonhole welt, whereby a smoother and lessbulky finished buttonhole can be formed in thin and thick materials thanwas heretofore possible with the prior art buttonhole guides.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a boundbuttonhole guide which can be manipulated accurately by a person havingrelatively little sewing skill.

Briefly, in accordance with the principles of the present invention, Iprovide a bound buttonhole guide for use United States Patent 3,507,235Patented Apr. 21, 1970 ICC with an ordinary sewing machine and whichincludes a substantially rectangular body member having an elongatedsubstantially rectangular, centrally located slot formed therethrough.The body member is provided with a side member along each side thereofwhich is hinged to the body member. Each of the side members is providedwith teeth means for engaging a piece of fabric laid over the body andside members. A welt forming strip is used to retain the piece of fabricon the body member while the side members are folded over onto the bodymember to form a Welt from the piece of fabric. The welt forming stripis then removed and the guide member is placed on the fabric in which abuttonhole is to be formed. The side members are provided with guidemeans for the zipper foot of a sewing machine for guiding the zipperfoot along said slot for sewing the piece of material secured in theguide member onto a fabric in which a buttonhole is to be formed.

Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will beapparent from the following detailed description, appended claims, andaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES IN THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an explodedview of an illustrative buttonhole guide and a patch of fabric usedtherewith for forming a bound buttonhole in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an elevational section view of the buttonhole guideillustrated in FIG. 1, taken along the line 2 2 thereof, and looking inthe direction of the arrows.

FIG. 3 is a top plan View of the buttonhole guide illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an elevational section view of the buttonhole guide structureillustrated in FIG. 1, taken along the line 4 4 thereof, and looking inthe direction of the arrows.

FIG. 5 is an elevational section 'view of the buttonhole guide structureillustrated in FIG. 3, taken along the line 5 5 thereof, and looking inthe direction of the arrows.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the illustrative buttonhole guide andshowing the patch of fabric for forming a buttonhole positioned in thebuttonhole guide and ready for placing on the fabric in which thebuttonhole is to be formed.

FIG. 7 is an elevational section view of the structure illustrated inFIG. 6, taken along the line 7 7 thereof, and looking in the directionof the arrows.

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 6, and showing the buttonhole guidedisposed on the fabric in which a buttonhole is to be formed.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view of a piece of fabric in which a buttonholehas been formed in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention.

FIG. 10 is an elevational section view of the structure illustrated inFIG. 9, taken along the line 10 10 thereof, and looking in the directionof the arrows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawing, andin particular to FIG. 1, there is depicted a bottom plan view of oneillustrative embodiment of a buttonhole guide made in accordance withthe principles of the present invention, and it is generally indicatedby the numeral 10. The numeral 11 generally indicates a generallyrectangular patch of fabric which is adapted to be mounted in thebuttonhole guide 10 for making a bound buttonhole. The numeral 12generally indicates an elongated retainer strip which is used forinitially mounting the patch of fabric 11 in the buttonhole guide 10.The retainer strip 12 may also be termed a welt former since itpositions the patch of fabric 11 in the buttonhole guide 10 in apredetermined position for sewing it onto the piece of fabric in which abuttonhole is to be formed.

As illustrated in FIGS. l, 3, 4, and 7, the buttonhole guide includes asubstantially rectangular body member 13, to the sides of which arehingedly attached the two side members 14 and 15. The side members 14and 15 may be attached to the body member 13 by any suitable means, asby the integral hinges 16 and 17. It will be understood that the bodymember 13 and the two side members 14 and 15 may be made from anysuitable material, as for example a transparent plastic. The retainer orwelt forming stiip 12 may also be made from a transparent plastic orother suitable material.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the buttonhole guide body member 13 isprovided with a substantially rectangular and centrally located,longitudinally extended slot 18 which is adapted to be positioned toenclose the location of the buttonhole which is to be sewed into a pieceof fabric. The slot 18 is formed through the bottom surface of the bodymember 13. As shown in FIG. l, a pair of spaced apart, longitudinallyextended square grooves 19 and 20 are formed in the lower face or bottomsurface of the body member 13 on opposite sides of the elongated slot18.

As best seen in FIGS. l, 2, 5 and 7, the body member 13 is also providedwith a longitudinally extended recess 21, extending inwardly from thetop face thereof and communicating with the slot 1S. The recess 21extends longitudinally of the body member 13, from end to end thereof,and it is open on the ends thereof. The upper side of the recess 21 isenclosed at each end thereof and at a point spaced inwardly from theends of the body member by a pair of transverse straps or wall members22 and 23. As shown in FIG. 4, the longitudinally extended recess 21goes under the transverse strap 22, and accordingly, recess 21 is not asdeep at that point and under the strap 23 as compared to the otherportions of the recess 21. The complete depth of the recess 21 is bestseen in FIG. 5.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the patch of material 11 from which thebuttonhole welt is to be formed is disposed on the upper face of thebody member 13 and against the underfaces of the aps or side members 14and 15. The welt forming strip 12 is then slid under the transversestraps 22 and 23 and over the patch of material 11 so as to retain thepatch of material 11 in place on the body member 13 and on the sidemembers 14 and 15.

The side members 14 and 15 are then folded from the position shown inFIG. 3, upwardly and over into the position shown in FIG. 7. In order tohold the patch of material 11 rmly in place, the side members 14 and 15are provided with retaining means which comprises a pair of metal plates24 and 28 that are secured to the side members and 14 respectively, byany suitable means, as by punching holes 25 in the metal strips 24 and28, whereby the jagged edges of the holes will mechanically grip theside members 15 and 14 and be secured thereto. Suitable rivets or othermeans may also be used for securing the metal strips 24 and 28 to theside members 15 and 14. As shown in FIG. 3, the metal plates 24 and 28are provided along the outer longitudinal edges thereof with a pluralityof integrally formed fabric engaging teeth 26 and 30, respectively.Alternatively, the teeth 2.6 and 30 could be made integral `with sidemembers 14 and 15.

As shown in FIG. 1, the side member 14 is provided with a rectangularrelief or cut-out 31 along the outer edge thereof. The side member 14 ismarked along the inner edge of the cut-out 31 with scaled indicia formeasuring the length of a desired buttonhole. A sewing machine guideridge 33 is formed on the outer face of the side member 14 along thehinge 16 to provide a guide means for the zipper foot of a sewingmachine. The other side member 115 is provided with a similarrectangular relief or cut-out portion 27, a scaled indicia 34, and asewing machine guide ridge 35. As shown in FIG. 3, the twocutouts 27 and31 form an opening through the side walls 14 and 15 when they are in thefolded position, to permit a sewing machine zipper foot to extendthrough the side members 14 and 15 for sewing through the slot 18.

As shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, a rubber band 36 is adapted to be seatedin the elongated square grooves 19 and 20 and to have the rounded endsthereof passed upwardly and through the slots 37 and 40 in one of theends of each of the side members 14 and 15, and through the slots 44 and41 at the other end of each of the side members 14 and 15. The ends ofthe rubber band 36 are shown in FIGS. 6 and 8 to extend up and over theends of the side members 14 and 15 to secure the side members againstthe body member 13 for a buttonhole forming operation. It will be seenthat the rubber band 36 also extends upwardly through the extreme endportions of the recess 21, which end portions are indicated by thenumerals 38 and 39 at the right end of the body member 13, as viewed inFIG. 3, and the numerals 42 and 43 at the left end of the body member13.

The numeral 45 in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 generally indicates a piece offabric in which a buttonhole may be formed with the buttonhole guide 10of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8, the buttonhole guide 10 isdisposed on the fabric 45 in a position with the slot 18 over thedesired location of a buttonhole. The welt forming strip 12 is removedby sliding it endwise from between the folded side members 14 and 15 onthe body member 13. The buttonhole guide is then placed on the fabric45. The welt forming material inside of the buttonhole guide 10 is thensewed to the fabric 45 by a sewing machine zipper foot in the samemanner as shown and described in my aforementioned United States PatentNo. 3,331,- 342. That is, the folded welt material inside of the guide10 is sewed along the slot 18 to the desired length as gauged by thescalled indicia members 32 and 34. The lower layer of the welt formingmaterial in the buttonhole guide 10 is slit centrally through the slot18v for the desired length of the buttonhole. The rubber lband 36 isthen removed and the buttonhole guide 10 removed from the welt formingmaterial. The welt forming material is then folded over and into the cutformed in the lower layer of the welt forming material to form abuttonhole as shown in FIGS. 9 and l0. The two folds 46 and 47 of thewelt forming material are shown in FIG. 7 in the buttonhole guide 10before the cutting of the inner layer of the welt forming material, andbefore the welt forming material is folded into the buttonhole. FIGS. 9and l() show the two folds 46 and 47 folded into a finished buttonholewhich has a hole 43.

Experience has shown that the buttonhole guide of the present inventionpermits the making of a bound buttonhole from a single piece of weltforming fabric, and that a bound buttonhole made with the buttonholeguide of the present invention permits the making of smooth surfacedbuttonholes in either thin or bulky material. It is also possible withthe buttonhole guide of the present invention to make bound buttonholesin material having a bias, a print or a pattern in such a manner thatthe bias, print or pattern will blend in with the rest of the bias,print or pattern in the material.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiments of theinvention herein disclosed is well calculated to fulll the objects abovestated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible tomodilication, variation and change.

What I claim is:

1. A buttonhole guide comprising:

(a) a substantially rectangular body member having an elongated,substantially rectangular buttonhole slot formed through the bottomsurface thereof, and an elongated, substantially rectangular recessformed on the top side thereof and communicating with said buttonholeslot;

(b) a rst side member hingedly attached to said body member along oneside thereof, and a second side member hingedly attached to said bodymember along the other side thereof;

(c) said side members being movable from a first position in flatalignment with said body member to a second folded-over position on topof said body member;

(d) a welt forming means adapted to be mounted on said body member andover a patch of fabric on the body member and the side members when theside members are in the aforementioned flat position and to retain thepatch of fabric in a welt forming position when the side members aremoved to said foldedover position; and,

(e) means for retaining the side members in said folded-over position 0nthe body member for holding the patch of fabric in place to allow thewell forming means to be removed from the body member.

2. A buttonhole guide as defined in claim 1, including:

(a) a pair of parallel guide ridges for aligning the buttonhole guidewith a sewing machine attachment and to guide a sewing needle in thebuttonhole guide slot, one of said guide ridges being fixed on one ofsaid side members and the other 0f said guide ridges being fixed on theother of said side members.

3. A buttonhole guide as defined in claim 2, wherein each of said sidemembers is provided with a cut-out portion along the outer edge thereofto permit communication through said side members with said buttonholeslot when the side members are in the folded-over position.

4. A buttonhole guide as defined in claim 3, wherein:

(a) said means for retaining the side members in said folded-overposition includes a pair of grooves formed in the lower surface of saidbody member, a plurality of slots formed in the ends of said sidemembers, and a rubber band seated in said grooves and having the endsthereof positioned through the slots in the ends of the side members andaround the side members.

S. A buttonhole guide as defined in claim 3, wherein:

(a) said welt forming means includes a pair of straps formed on theupper side of said body member on said recess, and a removable stripadapted to be positioned in said recess, under said straps and over apatch of welt forming fabric mounted on the body member.

6. A buttonhole guide as defined in claim 2, wherein:

(a) each of said side members is provided with a scaled indicia.

7. A buttonhole guide as dened in claim 1, wherein:

(a) each of said side members is provided with means for gripping saidpatch of fabric when the side members are moved to said secondfolded-over position on top of said body member.

8. A buttonhole guide as defined in claim 7, wherein:

(a) said means for gripping said patch of fabric cornprises a pluralityof longitudinally disposed teeth.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,814,264 1l/l957 Burgess 112-773,331,342 7/1967 Herrmann 112-136 30 H. HAMPTON HUNTER, Primary ExaminerU.S. Cl. X.R.

